


Restore the Universe [Act 1]

by arstycooky13



Series: Restore The Universe [1]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Dissociation, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Family Issues, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Mental Health Issues, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, connverse child, just a lot of mental stuff here, just know connverse happened, might still be happening in different forms, mostly one shots early on, not much connverse fluff here, the rest of the OG cast are currently MIA not dead
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:01:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24768154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arstycooky13/pseuds/arstycooky13
Summary: Happily ever after, there he was... with his friends, his family, his true self...Everything was great... until that one fateful day...The great beam struck. And everyone disappeared.You have to get them back.You have to get his happily ever after back.But you knew at the back of your head, you couldn't do this alone, no matter how much you wanted to handle this by yourself.
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe, Doug Maheswaran/Priyanka Maheswaran, Greg Universe & Steven Universe, Priyanka Maheswaran & Steven Universe
Series: Restore The Universe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1791199
Comments: 19
Kudos: 97





	1. Status: Awake

**Author's Note:**

> Pink Steven wakes up...

  
White.

Yellow.

Blue.

You...

  
Clouds.

Sun.

Sky.

Him…

  
Shields up

_(Another bite of icecream)_

Swords clash

_(Another strum of music)_

A fall

_(Just that day we only thought about love..._ _that day was fun)_

  
This wasn’t fun.

  
The wind was blowing.  
You knew that.

The sand was beneath you.  
 _You knew that._

The ocean waves were crashing.  
 ** _You knew that_**

.  
.  
.

You just didn’t remember what this place was…

How did you get here?

What happened?

.

.

.

You remember a battle.

A blinding white light had beamed on earth. You were able to shield yourself (yourselves?) along with a few of your allies from the blast. You outnumbered the enemy, but somehow, your allies faded, your numbers becoming less and less, leaving just two (three?) to oppose the enemy. Then the two (three) of you became one.

You remember feeling strong, stimulated, yet you felt excluded at the same time.

Pride and bravery. Yet at the same time, empty and fearful.

You remember a force.

Then excruciating pain.

Then you fell.

They fell with you…

  
Then you felt easy, free...

  
_**Rage.** _

You remember standing in between the ominous figure and your companions.

No.

_Family._

You had to protect them.

  
You could not let them down

_Do not let the intruder leave._

There was a flash. 

And then you felt yourself retreat into your gem against your will.

You couldn’t see anything. You felt your consciousness drift. Memories fading.

No.

_No!_

_Get back up._

_Do not let the enemy win!_

_Don’t forget..._

_T̶̜̅h̸͚͚̓̌e̶̢̬̽m̴̗̹͊?̷̤̣̎_

.

.

.

There it is again. You feel your mind fading. What happened again?

Why were you here?

  
You remember failure. 

You failed your mission.

You failed to keep the enemy at bay…

_You failed them…_

A failure you were and a failure you will stay until you can prove otherwise...  
  
But you can’t do anything at the moment... There was nothing for you to do…

_Nothing to prove._

How will you do that? How can you prove if you don’t remember how to…

Who will you prove it to?

**There’s no one here**  
...  


You decided to just lay there, staring, at the infinite, blue sky as the clouds slowly pass in its emptiness. You can feel the wind blowing against your face. Hear the palm trees rustling in its breeze. The sounds of the waves crashing against the sand.  
  
Music, you thought. You knew what that meant. You knew what music was... but you couldn't feel it.  
  
You knew rhythms, but not rhymes. You can picture notes but not tune.  
  
You can come up with lyrics but not a song.

Your mind knew the meaning, but your heart stayed stoned to the melody your surroundings were creating.  
What was this feeling? You couldn’t grasp the source. You wanted to remember, but at the same time, you didn’t want to. It was too much. Too painful. It reminded you too much of your loss. Your mistakes. Your failure.

This wasn’t fun.  
But there was nothing you could do about it.  


So you laid there, still and silent, despite the loud flapping of wings in your head. Thoughts raging like a tornado as if it were to lift you up with it and take you away. Your mind may have gone a thousand galaxies away from where you were, but your heart stayed, unchanged and unmoving. It was cold, numb.  
There was no heartbeat.  
You… forgot…  
You weren’t him anymore.  
No. You still are in some way.  
But you weren’t with him. You weren’t exactly human anymore.

You are a gem.  
Pink-

...Steven.

A light hologram of him. You don’t own this body.  
You didn’t have a real body and you didn’t have real feelings.

All those feelings… those were his, not yours.  
This… structure, your body, these were just his copy

Everything that you’ve been through in this life belongs to him.  
His achievements, his fortunes… His family…

And you were out of the picture.  
Because you’re supposed to be gone.

You were supposed to be dead.

Even if you were him, he didn’t want you to hurt anyone. He was afraid of what you could do.  
You don’t own anything.

_Nothing is you._

**_Nothing belongs to you._ **

And yet here you are, standing alone. 

…

You really wanted to stop drifting in the waves of your thoughts. You just wanted to rest for a bit.  
So you decided to close your eyes and let darkness wash over you, replacing all the colours of the world. Even if you didn’t really need sleep anymore, you felt like you wanted to. 

You wanted to rest, you told yourself.  
You wanted peace in the storm that is your mind...

So you let your eyes shut, and let darkness surround you.  
It did not rid the butterflies, but it silenced them for now.

.  
.  
.

You didn't smile that day.  
And it stayed like that for a long time...


	2. Beach Buddies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pink Steven and Vonvon hang out at the beach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Autumnal for beta reading this!

White.

Yellow.

Blue.

_You..._

  
  


Clouds.

Sun.

Sky.

_Them…_

  
  


The sun shines

(Bright light blinds the earth)

The ocean waves crash

(Bodies fall and sand particles spill )

A white butterfly lands on your shoulder... 

  
  


**This wasn’t new.**

  
  
  
  


It was evening. The sky was full of colours, the sea was sun touched. It was dusk.

You were on a beach. A quiet, sandy beach.

No battle. No blood. No pain.

It was peaceful. 

This beach wasn’t the one where _you failed_. This was on a different one. You sat on this beach with a different setting; a different purpose in mind. No ship would come crashing in and cause harm to you. No injector was going to fall through the clouds and wreak havoc upon the surface where you sat. No light was going to blast from the sky, taking away everyone again. 

At least, that’s what you hoped. 

You wanted to enjoy the sunset, but you couldn’t help the little buzzing on your left shoulder, the fear that something was going to appear below the atmosphere. Danger could arrive at any moment. 

The thought was always there. You couldn’t shake it off. You couldn’t crush it. The butterfly just rested upon your shoulder, doing nothing. _Its presence was suffocating_ .  
  
**_And you couldn’t do anything about it._ **

A young voice snapped you out of your troubled mind. You turned your head to its source. 

You saw the back of a child with chocolate coloured hair, tanned skin, and you could see the edges of their cheek; soft and round.

You recognized them.

It was **Vonvon**. 

A child that was a perfect mix of their parents. Like a gem fusion, but more stable. They could experience things and grow by themselves. Having their own skin to feel, their own eyes to see, their own ears to hear, a nose, a mouth, their own limbs… They had their own mind. There was no imbalance in their body, every organ working in harmony; even the hard light that flowed through their blood. _But you knew they would reject that someday_. You hoped they could make peace with that part of themselves, but you wouldn’t be surprised if they couldn’t. 

If you had the power and the ability to remove that part of Vonvon, you would in an instant, it would relieve them of so much pain and suffering in this life, they didn’t have to deal with the mental toil that came with that heritage.

_They didn’t have to deal with you and all the dangers that came with you._

The child shouted again.

  
Their small, hazel eyes were visible now and were looking at your pink squared ones. You could see the need for attention in their orbs. 

“Papa! Look at what I made!”

You looked and saw three hills of sand with pointy tops and what seemed to be shell windows along the side of each tower. You could see the “ditch” surrounding the mounted sand. The three “sandcastles” were surrounding Vonvon. It looked like they made a little kingdom of their own.

You could tell there was a lot of effort put into it. 

“See this? I made sandcastles! Do you like them? It took me about Two weeks to do them!”

Two… weeks? Didn’t they just build it while they were out here? You asked that question aloud.

“Well, yeah, but I meant I was planning to build this ever since you said you’d go out on the beach with me! See? I even sketched it out like you said I should!”  
  
They held a small doodle of the “sandcastles” in a notebook they had to your face. You could make out the words describing the towers; “main tower” “control tower” “special tower”. You observed the sketch, each stroke and every tip. Every detail and shape that each line made. You had to admit, it was messy. But for someone as young as Vonvon, it was pretty impressive.  
  
You looked at the actual product. 

_Not too bad_. The shapes were disproportionated _,_ but that was okay.

  
It was cute.

And you weren’t afraid to say it out loud.

They looked a little flustered in response.

“Papaaaa! Is it really just cute? Because you say that to almost everything I do! When you are actually speaking that is. Does this not look like… I don’t know… Something other than cute?” Vonvon questioned.

Okay, it looked cool.

They huffed in obvious frustration.  
  
You fell silent for a second, thinking of how to respond. _Be honest, and they’ll understand._

You told the grumpy kid that things made out of sand aren’t very intimidating, especially when the structures are smaller than you. Nevertheless, you thought your _c̸͖͗h̷̘̱͝i̶̙͖̓̔l̸̨͍̍d̶̞́ͅ_  
  
  
.̸̢̞̲̫̳̟͋̓͊̋̆̈̕.̵̛̥̦̫̫̾̎̈́͑͆͊.̷̪̞̟̘͕̳͗͂

  
…

  
  
**_His child..._ **  
_(that’s better)_  
  
did a wonderful job.  
  
They pouted, probably still annoyed at you.  
  
You proceeded to pat their head gently. Their arms still folded and their face held an unsatisfied look.

_This will pass._

You turned back to the ocean, watching and listening as the small waves crashed upon the sand. You looked to the horizon as if you suspected that something or someone would appear…

Nothing came into view, only the glistening seawater and the sunset at its tip.

You sighed.

Why couldn’t you be at peace? Why couldn’t you stop thinking about what might be instead of what is right now?

…

  
  
**The butterfly still lingered.**

“Papa, what are you looking at?”  
  
You tensed up a bit. You forgot Vonvon was still there for a second.

“Papa, are you zoning out again? Do I have to splash water on you like last time? I don’t want to get your coat wet!”

You rubbed your fingers together as if to find something cold between them. It took a few moments for you to respond to Vonvon, saying you were just staring at the ocean. 

The child looked contemplative but didn’t argue.

Instead, they carefully stepped out of the sandcastles’ ring, making sure not to knock anything over and went to sit by your right side. 

For a little while, there was silence, only the sound of the small rushing sea waves and the occasional seagull squawk.

Nostalgia. 

A lot of things happened in this setting.

Both good and bad.

Sometimes it was just a blur. Sometimes it was full of colour. Some moments you wanted to last longer and some you wished would pass quickly.

This time, it was a little different. It wasn’t a black and white frame. For once in a very long time, you didn’t know how to feel about this beach. 

The setting itself didn’t have any harm in it, but it was the memories that once stood here that did. Memories that left a print in the sand. Moments that were washed away by the sea. Scenes you can never relive. And this time, you can't immediately request to have that similar picture again.

Because the pieces were nowhere to be found.

“What is it, Papa? I don't see anything” Vonvon squeaked. 

“I don’t see any fish or big sea monsters coming out of the water. Do you have supervision?”

You shook your head, saying you just had a lot of…

_Thoughts…_

Vonvon looked at you with a little bit of concern plastered on their face.

You felt a spike of panic rise up and spread throughout your body.

“What… kind of thoughts, Papa?” the child asked at a volume just above the sounds of the calming sea.

Too many thoughts. Big and small. Thoughts that they won’t understand.

They’re too young to worry about that.

It’s too much for them. For _his_ child.

Don’t make _their_ mistake. Don’t put worry onto them.

They’ve felt and been through enough.

They’ve lost so much… too much.

_Be a good role model. Keep it together._

They may see your cracks, but that is fine.

As long as they don’t see the trench that is beneath your imperfections.

His imperfections… **_that were caused by you._ **

You won’t let your problems wash Vonvon away, you’ll make sure no one will hurt them.

_Everything will be okay._

**The butterfly glows brighter...**

“Papa, if you don’t want to talk about it… it’s okay...I understand. Adults have to keep their secrets sometimes.”

That last sentence made you shudder, especially at the fact that Vonvon’s tone sounded so natural.

You felt a bitter taste in your mouth. You had to keep it from his child, as much as you hated to do that, it was for the better.

They didn’t need to have the weight on their shoulders like-

_Like he once did_ .  
  


You didn’t want Vonvon to think that it’s their responsibility to keep everyone safe at such a young age.

…

You felt a small weight lean against your right arm.

You looked over to see Vonvon leaning against you.

_Comfort and reassurance…_

The feelings were faint, but they were there…

The butterfly dimmed.

“Are you… going to be okay, Papa?”

You told Vonvon...Of course. You will be okay. It's only thoughts. Just thoughts.

Vonvon held onto you just a bit tighter. You hug back with one arm. The gesture was nice, yet you felt… distant.

No matter. _There was no harm in letting that happen._

You both stayed there, holding each other for what seemed to be hours when really, it was only a few minutes.

The child spoke.

“I wanna walk along the beach with you. Please?”

You looked to Vonvon, slit eyes widening.

Of course, you said. You wanted to walk with them. 

A calm, peaceful walk.

_This will clear your mind._

Vonvon was the first to make a move. They sprung up with delight, then skipped to the left, passing in front of you, their sandals leaving prints in the sand.

Thank goodness, they didn't notice the butterfly. Its glow may be dimmed, but you could still feel its pressure.

No matter, you will carry on with this new assignment.

You got up and followed Vonvon, who was already at a distance. Thankfully, the child stopped in their tracks and turned to look at you.

“Come on, Papa! Let’s walk!”

You took your time despite Vonvon telling you to hurry up. Once caught up, you both walked alongside each other with the sounds of the ocean next to you.

 _  
_ _Calming._ _  
_ _  
_ _Relaxing._

_Refreshing._

You ignored the white light on your left for a bit to do a diagnostic scan.

_It passes time._

You counted your steps. One, Two Three, Four.

Left, right, left, right.

_Walking was stable._

You breathed.

Nitrogen, oxygen, carbon, and about six percent of water vapour was detected.

_It was safe. It was clean for them._

The sand crunched beneath your feet as you walked. You listened to it for a while.

Step, after step, after step.

One, two, three, four...

Nothing was shaking.

Everything was normal. Everything was okay.

  
You felt a small pressure on your left.

_Ignore it._

You looked at Vonvon. They’re not skipping anymore. Instead, they were walking, observing the sea waters as if waiting for something.

Oh.

You made them worry.

_Quick, do something._

You called out to them. Nudged them. 

_Get their attention._

That worked.

They looked at you curiously, a frown present on their features.

Neither of you said anything, but the message was sent.

Vonvon then stared ahead, still walking beside you, but they walked a lot slower, seemingly letting you take the lead.

Your hands still holding theirs.

It was like that for a while.

* * *

It was starting to get dark out. With the sun now almost completely set, you could see the stars in the sky.

Looks like it will be a clear sky tonight.

_You should start heading back soon._

Vonvon was carrying one of your geometric bubbles, a little trick you could do to store items since you left the bucket back where Vonvon had made their sandy kingdom. Inside the bubble were unique, colourful shells. The kid had found them along the beach during the walk. They would definitely show their findings to their grandparents and add the shells to their collection of ‘interesting’ objects.

You let the child walk ahead of you. They seem to be enjoying and cherishing the setting, occasionally looking down at the bubble, admiring the shells that were inside.

You had spent 53 minutes and 48 seconds walking along the beach. You knew this because you were counting every second; you still are. 

A lot of time has passed, and you were very much aware of that. 

You heard a very faint “woah” come from Vonvon’s mouth, then they proceeded to walk a little faster towards a huge rock formation. This place seemed… familiar.

_Both of you should be careful._

You caught up to Vonvon and saw them looking in wonder at the rocks surrounding them.

They were tall, dark and looked beaten, but sturdy nonetheless. You squinted and examined the formation further.

Your eyes trailed upwards, catching a familiar structure; it was in ruins.

The farther the structure was from its base, the more unstable it looked.

The pest on your shoulder shone much brighter now, starting to flap its wings to get your attention.

 _Dangit._ You almost were able to get rid of it.

You needed to get out of here, you had to get back home.

It was getting dark and temperatures were dropping.

Vonvon will get cold.

…

Where is Vonvon?

Where did they go?

_You took your eyes off them for less than a minute and they-_

“Papa! Up here!”

You glanced upwards to where the voice was.

Vonvon was sitting on top of the rocks. High up on them where it looked unstable.

_What were they doing up there?!_

“Come up! You can get a good look at the ocean from up here! ”

 _Get them down from that,_ **_now!_ ** **_  
  
_ **

You crouched down and you jumped discreetly since you didn’t want to disrupt the battered upper structure where Vonvon was sitting. 

Once you reached the spot, you stopped mid-air, reaching your arms out, gesturing for the child to take them. For some reason, they gave you a weird look and did not take your hands.

_Come on, take them off the ledge, this thing’s going to crumble._

“Papa, wait.”

You paused.

“Why don’t you come sit with me? Look at the view and relax? Gran’ ma Priyanka always said that would help.”

You squint your eyes but did as the child said.

You decided to stand in place, with nothing beneath you. Vonvon eyeing you, still probably astonished by how you can do the things you do.

You turned around to see a familiar, beautiful starlit ocean. White dots were scattered along the water’s surface, the sea reflecting the sky’s wonders. 

Vonvon was right, it was a pretty sight to see.

 _You’ll keep this memory for another day._ But it wasn’t a memory just yet, you were still admiring the view, living in the moment.

“Papa, look up to the sky! I see… Scorpio, Cygnus and Columba!”

You look back to Vonvon to see their pointed finger. Then you looked up to where the group of stars were.

Scorpio, Cygnus and Columba.

They got it right, good for them. They remembered your silly teachings after all.

“And… I see… Circinus, Libra and… Leo?”

You backed up and carefully sat down beside Vonvon so you could see the constellations they were referring to a lot clearer.

Circinus and Libra. They got that right.

Leo…

That wasn’t Leo

That was…

“...Gemini?”

Yes.

“Huh, I thought that looked like a Leo.”

No, Gemini is the twins, you said. They would look like two sticks holding hands. 

“Ah. I see.” Vonvon acknowledged.

“Do you see any other star-groups, Papa?”

You kept your eyes to the dark sky, examining the stars and their patterns.

Aquila, Ara, Corvus and Hydra.

Those were the ones you could see.

“Wow, there’s a lot of stars up there.”

Yes. A lot. Thousands upon thousands of stars and planets habited the emptiness of outer space.

“And you said there were these aliens called gems, like you, used to inhabit those planets and zoom through space like cars on a road. That sounds... scary.”

Ah. Scary. Space can be quite a scare sometimes.  
Empty and cold. Dark and lonely.

But they didn’t have to worry about that. They aren't going to leave earth anytime soon.

“I guess you're right, I’m worrying over nothing, haha,” Vonvon assured themselves, swinging their feet over the edge.

“But, Papa, why did the aliens come here?”

You froze. _What a gut-wrenching question._

You decided to break eye-contact with Vonvon, keeping quiet. The bug came back into view, glowing.

They didn’t need to know that yet. _They can’t because..._

“So… you don’t know?” Vonvon asked ever so delicately.

...

No, you didn’t know who did it. But that doesn’t matter. The damage has been done.

You told Vonvon to leave that thought for later, their grandparents could probably handle this a lot better than you can.

“Oh. O-okay. Then I guess… The stars look really nice out today. So clear.”

You nodded in agreement They changed the subject. Good for them.

“Papa, what do you think of stars?”

A luminous ball of gas contained mostly with hydrogen and helium, held together by its own gravity. You think they are a well-balanced ball of chemicals and physics.

“A what?”

Stars are nice, you said.

“Ah. Yeah, they are.” Vonvon answered. “Is that why you have a star shirt on you all the time? And why Gran’pa Greg has so many starry clothes for me?”

You thought for a moment.

Yes, star shirts are nice. 

…

A white star is visible, floating in front of you.

The weight on your shoulder was gone.

Instead, the pressure was all over you, as if its light that shone around you had weight

_Star shirts. Star shirts. Star shirts._

_Star star star star star-_

_He’s gone He’s Gone HE’S GONE-_

**_*CRACK*_ **

“A-ah! P-papa?! What’s going on?!”

The structure shook.

Cracking.

Breaking.

_Crumbling._

Everything seemed to shake.

**S̸̳͕͔͚̃̂̓̈́n̶̨͠a̴̧͘p̷͎͖̟͒ ̶̢͔̤͉̝̄ǫ̷͉̗͕͂̎͒ȗ̶̥̝̕͝t̷̮̣͈̪̬̊̓̄ ̴̠̀̽͊ͅo̸̜̼̥̎̓f̴͎̙͎̱̾̾ ̶̘̪̞͚͘ͅį̴̼̮̽̍̈́͆ţ̷̤̇ ̵̤̝̲́̅̏͊s̷̟̠̣̉̊͗͊̓n̴̮͙̠̖̏͌̉ā̷̢̭̅p̶̡͂̔̃ ̵̬̋̃ǒ̴̡͉̲͛͗u̵͖̞͖͉̒̊͘ͅt̵̡̨̙̎̅͐͊͝ ̷̣͙̝̲͜͝ȯ̶͉̮͚̯̣͗̉f̴̜͌͊ ̸̦̑̀̅͑̌i̶̧̊̎̃͐͠t̷̫̦͚͇̗͑̕** ̴̢̥͗͛̇̕ **S̵̙Ń̶̦A̷͓̪̐P OUT OF IT-**

**_“_ ** **_Papa!”_ **

_Grab them._

**_Now._ **

You grabbed them by their torso and held them.

You jumped off the crumbling platform and let yourself float once again as you watched the chunks of the statue fall.

A crash can be heard as the wreckage hit the sand, its dust spread and covered the ground.

The deafening rumbling sounds of the structure were everywhere. Its racket sounded like heavy rain droplets from below. 

It was like this longer than expected. It was enough to make Vonvon quiver in fear. 

You covered their ears as the remnants fell. Held them until the debris cleared below.

Dust remained of the rubble. You decided to stay in the air for a while until the dust settled. You didn’t want Vonvon inhaling that into their system. Who knows how old the material is. 

The child in your arms shook and snivelled. Tears were present in their eyes. You could feel their pulse; It was definitely not a calm heart rate.

Look what you’ve done. Your recklessness and ignorance have cost his child’s safety.

You could’ve gotten them killed.

_You’ve could’ ve-_

“P-papa... i-is... is it g-gone?”

You could hear the rawness in their voice. They sniffed and whimpered, terrified of the events that had happened.

This isn’t about you

It’s about them now. 

_Calm them down._

You hushed them as you stroked their hair gently with your bright, pink fingers, encouraging Vonvon to look away from the debris and just focus on you.

You held the trembling child in your arms and pulled them closer, causing their face to bury into your chest. Small hands were gently squeezing your fleece and the wetness of their tears soaked it.

You tried to hum a melody, a tuneless melody. What was the song? You don’t know, it just stuck with you… It felt awkward. 

It worked a little, but it wasn’t enough.

You tried rocking them back and forth gently like a crib. Making them focus on the rhythm of your movements instead of the debris and memory that was made around them. It helped but it still wasn’t enough.  
  
The child’s breathing slowly became stable, normal, okay.

Vonvon sniffed and rubbed their face, leaning back a little to say something.

“A-ah… I-I’m sorry Papa… I guess your coat got wet after all...” they whimpered.

You told Vonvon that you didn’t mind. Then you rubbed your hand against their face, wiping away the tear stains.

The child giggled.

“H-hey! Papa that tickles!”

Your eyes widened, admiring the small bits of happiness that were being expressed by them.

_Do it again._

You caressed Vonvon’s cheek, rubbing circles around it. Vonvon played along and tried to push your hand away.

You squished their soft cheeks, in response, they stuck their tongue out. 

And you stuck out yours, copying Vonvon’s actions.

“Hey! You’re copying me!” The child huffed.

You tucked your tongue back in as if nothing happened.

Vonvon gave you a look of shame.

Then suddenly they squished your cheeks, copying your actions before.

Ah, payback.

“Haha! Take this!” They exclaimed as they squished your cheeks even more with their two tiny hands.

You could feel how soft their hands were compared to your hard light ones. So organic, so full of life.

So much free than your forced movements.

Your thoughts were interrupted by a child’s laughter. Vonvon was looking directly at you, gleaming eyes with clear happiness within them. 

They were smiling.

They were having fun. 

They were not sad anymore.

 _Focus on them_ , you thought. _Don’t bring this down.  
  
_

Vonvon pointed their index finger and pressed on your nose.

“Boop!” they signalled and they left their finger there.

Ah. The classic. You remember doing this all the time when the child was younger, it was a form of teasing, a fun little thing you both would do to each other. It was playful and comforting.

You ‘booped’ Vonvon on the nose as a response, also leaving the finger there.

If someone were to see both of you like this, you’d look really really dumb, but you didn't care, Vonvon was having fun.

Vonvon was laughing.

They were happy.

That was all you. You made them happy.

_Good for you._

You smiled slightly, the child’s laughter being quite contagious.

Vonvon’s laughter suddenly stopped and a very small audible gasp was heard.

They noticed your small smile and softly smiled back.

After a few moments of smiling and enjoying each other's company, the child yawned, obviously growing tired. 

You promised Priyanka that you would be home before sundown.

It was night and the sun was gone.

_Oh dear._

You cringed at the thought of the old woman lecturing you for an hour, but you can worry about that later.

Right now you have one task and that was to get Vonvon home.

The toddler groaned.

“Mmhm Papa? Where’re the shells?”

…

Two tasks.

You looked around yourself to see if you had the bubble on you. You didn’t.  
  
You didn’t grab the shells when the platform collapsed.

You looked to the debris below and slowly descended downward. You hoped that the bubble was strong enough to withstand the rubble.

Your feet didn't meet the ground, instead, you were floating above the wreckage. This way, you didn’t have to worry about walking through what would feel like a minefield. 

Step after step, you walked through thin air, scanning and searching through the rubble for a pink bubble.

The walk felt strangely stressful as you looked for the shells, even when you were above the danger of getting poked or scraped, you had a feeling of dread. 

_What if the bubble wasn’t strong enough? What if all those shells were broken? How would Vonvon react?_ In the back of your mind, you reassured yourself, _you could always find new shells before Vonvon even notices_. But at the same time, it didn’t feel right. All those shells were hand-chosen by Vonvon, they would probably see the difference, not to mention you didn’t exactly have the best taste in design.

You only hoped for the best.

And that hope was to be tested as you spotted the bubble in the short distance.

You sped up a little, impatient to know the fate of the shells.

You picked it up and took a good look at it.

There were small cracks present, but those could easily be fixed by your healing powers.

_Thank goodness._

“Woah, you found it!” Vonvon said with a gurgling voice.

You really need to get Vonvon home.

You handed the bubble to Vonvon and they looked at it in awe. Their eyes glued to the shells inside as if it were the most important thing in the world.

You were somewhat relieved, you still had to go through a lecture with Vonvon’s grandmother, but today…

Today was worth it. 

“It's unfortunate that the statue fell, I wonder who’s it was, we’d have to apologize...” the child mumbled. Even when they’re half asleep, they are still willing to...

…

The statue belonged to nobody, _at least… not anymore…_

“But the statue had to come from somewhere!”

That was a long time ago. Whoever was here is not anymore. _To the world, this place was just nowhere, a ruin that is to be lost in time…_

“Papaaaaaa! You’re zoning out again! And this time I’m not getting your coat wet again...” Vonvon whined.

...It was getting late, you should head back home. Vonvon is barely holding up. They looked at you, a little disappointed with the obvious topic change, but was too tired to argue.

You glanced back onto the path home, you would still have to pick up some of the toys back where the sandcastles were.

It’ll take a bit of time, but you’ll get home. 

You looked down at Vonvon and saw they were already sleeping soundly, comfortably lying in your arms and cuddling the bubbled shells as if it were a stuffed toy.

You could explain this place to Vonvon later, but right now is not the best time.

You walked away from the ruined site that held so many memories.

Someday, you will explain. _Someday, they will understand._

But for now, you will leave all of this behind you again.

Just for now.

As you walked past the rock formation, you could sense a faint presence behind you.

A white butterfly was left on the rocks, no movement nor sound was made from it. But it glowed, very faintly. It felt welcoming, but you knew the storm that came with it.

That wasn't the focus right now, however.

The focus was on getting back home.

  
  
  
  
  


You smiled today. You knew there would be consequences for staying out late, _but it was worth it_ , you reminded yourself.

  
  


And the sandcastle still stood strong among the small waves, the ditch was full. Perhaps Vonvon really did plan that castle through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So just to point this out, this is an AU where you could see more star constellations and/or zodiacs in the sky at a time. Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed this wreckage, more coming soon!


	3. Sweet Treats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The family make dessert together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one took wayyy too long to write, but hope you enjoy reading as I did put quite a lot into this one. 
> 
> Only fluff, small angst, and more random stuff here folks~

1:47 pm

That was the current time. 

You tracked your memory from earlier today, from 12:30 pm to 1:36 pm, you were outside with the family, just walking amongst stores and having a look around the area. The walk itself was soothing, but you could sense the uneasiness of the other elders that were with you. They’d sometimes have that sad, stiff look in their eyes whenever they tried to glance at you. It wasn’t the most alarming thing. You understood why they were like that at times.

You weren’t human. You weren’t really Steven. You weren’t the most empathetic anymore.

And you accepted that you aren’t who you used to be.

You weren’t bothered by that.

…

You caught a glimpse of a white butterfly that flew past the window.

_Okay._

Maybe you were a _little_ bothered by it.

But you chose not to dwell on that.

You turn away from the window, your back facing it now. Your eyes trailed to see a dorm-like room. 

You’re in Vonvon’s room. 

  


[Special thanks to @[insomni-ass](https://insomni-ass.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr for drawing Vonvon's room!]

You looked to the bed, seeing a string of photos. You remember when most of them had their photos taken.

Then you went to feel the blankets of Vonvon’s bed. It was soft and fuzzy, as it should be. You looked up to where the walls and ceiling met. Waves of water were painted on it. There were some relatively nice looking fish decorated amongst the tides. There was also a depiction of a hawk-like figure around the end of the painting.

As you were observing the decorations, you heard the clatter of pots and pans downstairs. Vonvon and their grandparents were making dinner together. 

You didn’t really have an appetite anymore and you felt rude to help them when you weren’t going to eat the food, so you decided you would stay up here until they’d call you down to join them. 

There was a shelf that consisted of a small collection on its middle level, opposite of the small bed. You recognized it as Vonvon’s collection. Some of which were shells you recognized from when they had gathered from the beach days before. You observed the objects on the shelf but didn’t dare touch them. It was Vonvon’s collection and you didn’t want to accidentally ruin it somehow.

You backed away from the shelf after a few moments and sat on a mat, padding the hard floor. The mat had spiral patterns circles of different sizes. 

You’d lay down on this mat at night if there was nothing important to do. It was rather comfortable to do so. Most of the time, Vonvon would be in bed while you rest. You’d keep an eye on them as they slept. It was a habit. Was it a good habit? Well, it doesn’t hurt anyone.

_Right?_

You sat there for a little while, occasionally hearing the faint collision of kitchen utensils, along with a few murmurs of voices from downstairs.

  
  


Your eyes trailed to look at the coat hangers. They were accounted for.

You saw books on the shelves and on the desk. They were also accounted for.

The Crocus flowers seemed to be healthy. As it should be.

You also saw a poster next to the window. It was a picture of a star constellation, specifically the pattern of Cancer.

Mostly everything was in place.

There was nothing out of the ordinary in this room.

Everything was all put in here thoughtfully.

Suddenly, you heard someone calling you from downstairs. It’s probably time for you to go down and join the rest of the family. You made sure to close the door behind you, as Priyanka was adamant about making sure the doors were always closed.

Once you were down, you saw the family all at the dinner table together. The older ones seem to be having a nice chat with each other. Vonvon was also at the table, sitting on a high chair. They seem to still have food on their plate, noticeably the vegetables.

Vonvon was the first to notice you, their eyes lighting up.

“Hi hi Papa!” they spoke, waving their free arm. Their grandparents are looking to you now too. 

You waved at the group shyly.

Everyone seemed happy that you were here. You really do light up the room. _Quite literally_ _too._

“There you are!” said Priyanka. “Just in time! Do you mind doing the dishes for us?”

You nodded your head in agreement, accepting your new task for the time being. It was always like this and you liked it. It felt better than sitting at the table, not doing anything other than looking at Vonvon the whole time 

You grabbed some of the empty dishes on their table and went to the kitchen sink to wash them. 

As you were washing, you hear their faint conversation. 

“So have you heard anything about the school, Vonvon?” you heard Priyanka asked.

“I haven't heard anything about that. Was I supposed to?” Vonvon asked, worried.

“No, it's just, it's been so long since schools around here closed. I was hoping at least Little Homeschool was going to reopen.” Priyanka huffed.

“I’m sure they will open up soon! Maybe they are just getting it ready as we speak.” Doug said encouragingly to his wife.

"Surely they'd be ready by now, what if they never open up?" The woman said concerned.

“I’m sure they are taking their time to get everything going. Everyone has been shaken up pretty badly, Pry, Just give it time.” Greg calmly said to Priyanka, supposedly trying to ease the mood.

The old lady sighed.

Then everyone went back to quietly eating the last of their dinner.

Little homeschool… you haven’t heard that name in a long time.

You didn’t exactly get to see the school either due to it being closed down for renovations and the site was filled with gems you didn’t recognize from afar. While you hoped the school could re-open again, it wasn’t your main concern at this time.

You were occupied with your own work, which was dishwashing. 

The sound of the running water from the sink and the clatter of plates were currently filling the silence of the home.

You were just about to finish as you heard familiar steps coming toward you.

“Hey, Steven!”

You glanced at your right to see it was Doug carrying the rest of the dirty dishes. You gestured for Doug to give you the rest of the dirty plates as you were ready to continue to clean more of them but…

“It’s alright, I can clean them!” he said calmly but willingly.

You were reluctant, but you stepped aside so Doug could use the sink. 

Now you weren’t doing anything anymore. You just stood there, rubbing your light dense fingers.

You started to get anxious on the spot until you felt a small tug on the coat you were wearing.

You turned to see it was Vonvon.

“Papa papa! After gran’pa finishes cleaning, do you wanna help make dessert?” the child said with glee.

Help make dessert? Didn’t they just eat already?

“I know I did, but just for today, gran’ma said I can have a sweet dessert!”

You pondered for a moment, looking to Priyanka as if she would give you some guidance. She just smiled gently. _Oh, you are going to do that_ . You are going to help Vonvon make a _sweet_ dessert. You knew the family would have some snacks after they had their meals, but usually, it'd be something simple, like apple slices or berries. You didn't expect today to be one of those days Priyanka allowed a sweet dessert, and you especially did not anticipate to _participate_ in helping them make the treat.

But you didn’t really mind it, you were happy to help Vonvon. You just felt a little self-conscious of the other older people in the room, watching you.

“Yeah! It’ll be fun! I promise!” your attention being snapped back to the child as they gleam at you and take your hand. They guided you to the other side of the kitchen where the supposed ingredients were. There were bowls and packages set up on the counter already, each bowl was noticeably filled with different kinds of earthly spices. There were also eggs, 2 of them to be exact. Cups and small bottles filled with liquids were on the side, as well as a piece of paper with writing on it, presumably the recipe.

You ask the child what exactly they were planning on making. They giggled in response. _How delightful._

“We’re gonna make... ” The child starts, then looking a little lost at what they were going to say, grabbing the recipe to read it. “A super-secret recipe!” They say enthusiastically, pointing to the paper while also looking up to you with a bright and happy face.

You raise an eyebrow in response, but Vonvon’s expression did not stir. _They must be really excited to do this with you._

You asked Vonvon what they were going to start with first. “We wait for gran’pa to finish!” they answered, looking to one of their grandparents who was still standing at the sink. Doug seemed to realize Vonvon waiting for him.

“Oh! Uh, I’m finished! ” he said as he put down the newly washed plates and hastily went to sit with the rest of the older ones to watch you and Vonvon do some cooking together.

“What’s the first step Vonvon?” their grandmother asked.

“Well, first we need to preheat the oven to three hundred and seventy-five… what is that?”

_Degrees Fahrenheit._

“----Three hundred and seventy-five degrees Fair-ren-height!”

  
They continued, ”And we are gonna take this big bowl,” already grabbing and dragging the bowl closer to them. The object was almost as big as them.

“Then we are gonna make the batter!” they chirped. “All the ingredients are here!”

The child gestured to the bundle of cups and bowls you noticed earlier. You saw that Vonvon wanted to grab the ingredients, but their arms couldn’t reach that far. They were also on a stool which made it a little harder for the child to maneuver, so you gently pushed the cooking materials towards them.

There was flour, cocoa powder, eggs, extracts… These ingredients seemed familiar to you.

You never really cooked or baked anything since you came here. You knew the family would use some elements that were presented in front of you in their desserts, but… it felt like you have held these materials numerous times before. Actually, it appeared as if you knew this whole recipe beforehand. The small oval-shaped object in your hand was definitely ringing a bell from the past.

_You’ve helped Vonvon make dessert before, why were you considering these… emotions now?_

“----Papa!” You heard a small voice call to you. “Are you going to crack that thing?” They asked, seemingly a little concerned.

_Crack what?_

You look faintly confused at them for a moment, before feeling that you were carrying something.

... Oh.

There’s an egg in your hand.

You were supposed to crack the egg and put its yolk in the mix. _At least that’s how eggs work right?_

“Come on Papa! We can crack the eggs together!” Vonvon said as they held their egg. “I’ve already put the powder stuff in if you don’t mind,” they said briefly looking at the large bowl.

You didn’t mind it at all.

“Great! Let’s get _cracking_ , haha!” they laughed. 

Before Vonvon could break the egg, they looked to Priyanka first before they did so, freezing in a position for their grandmother to see if they were going to do it right. The older woman, of course, smiled and gave them a nod of approval.

Her grandchild smiled and cracked the egg rather efficiently, not a single shell piece dropping into the mix. The yolk quietly landing in the mix.

_You cringed at the cracked egg a little._

The child smiled at themselves, proud that they did it without any mishaps. 

They turned to you after that, looking like they were waiting for something.

“Papa, it’s your turn now!” they said.

Oh, right.

You looked at the egg in your hand examining its surface. You felt a sense of… familiarity.

For a moment you didn’t exactly know what to do with it-

No wait- You did.

_Did you?_

_Yes, yes you did, just do exactly what Vonvon did!_

_But how did they do it so perfectly?_

**_How do you do it without š̴͈̼h̵̲̉á̴̠t̴̻̚t̸̙͎͛͌e̷̊ͅr̷̙̳̄̔i̴̥̰͋̇n̷̹̮͝g̵̛̯̟ it?-_ **

Suddenly, you felt a pair of small hands holding youtube occupied hand, then feeling that hand being guided to the bowl. ****

“So, you hold your hand like that, then your free hand can hold the bowl,” Vonvon instructed, and you did so. “And then you tap the egg lightly on the edge of the bowl!” ****

Alright, crack the egg so it is.

****

Your grip on its shell was firm, but not firm enough to puncture the surface. ****This was the perfect stance. ****

You lifted your hand a little and then tapped the end of the bowl with the egg, _lightly._

_..._

“Um, Papa, you can put more force into that. You want to… you know… ‘crack it’?” said the little chef beside you. ****

Okay. ****

Lightly, _but with a little more force_.

**_  
  
_**

And so you did. You repeated the action and heard the egg cracking on impact. **_  
  
_**

You did it.

You cracked the egg open… just right.

****

“Yay! You did it!” They said with glee, clapping their hands softly.”Now open the egg and put the yolk into the bowl!”

****

Open the egg.

_It's not that hard._

****

You held the punctured egg in front of you.

****

The sight of the egg made you cringed at it again; It reminded you something… _Something unpleasant_...

So you closed your eyes as you parted the two shell halves.

After a few moments, you felt the yolk escape its shell enclosure and landed in the mix.

You looked to Vonvon, seeking approval if you did it right.

They clapped again.

“Good job Papa! Two eggs in the mix -- check!” they said and they made a ‘checkmark’ gesture on the paper they were now holding. You then immediately disposed of the eggshells into a nearby bin, not wanting to see them any longer.

“Next put butter, and then the extracts and then some more extracts-”

So basically everything else that's on the counter.

“Yes. Exactly.” 

So you both got to work. Putting the rest of the elements into the bowl. It was an easy task, as the ingredients were already measured accordingly. Once that was done, it was time to mix the batter. Priyanka had lent Vonvon a wooden spoon to mix everything together.

_The family didn’t own a food mixture for some reason._

You watched as the small child mixed the substances with a bit of a hassle, but it was getting the job done. You offered your help, but Vonvno refused.

“I can do it, Papa! I like mixing stuff!”

Are they sure?

“Yup! Don’t worry! You can get the roller stuff ready.”

You were hesitant but went to do as you were told.

Priyanka had already had the items ready for you, so you didn’t have to go too far thankfully.

You placed the baking mats on the counter waiting for Vonvon to finish mixing.

The child still seemed to be struggling to mix the ingredients as their small body could only do so much.

You tapped on their shoulder for them to look at you, and they did. You noticed they faintly had a tired look in their eyes.

You offered a hand to help, but they decline it again.

A couple of minutes went by and they weren’t mixing anymore. You asked the same question gently and they went quiet.

You asked again a third time and this time they finally accepted it.

You laid your hands on top of Vonvon’s, which were still holding the bowl and spoon. Together you stirred the mix until it was a very thick, chocolate scented batter.

“I think it's ready Papa!” the child confirmed. They scooped a little bit of the raw batter with their finger and tasted it. “Mmm, it's pretty good! Now we just need to cool this stuff down so it's a little harder and less... liquidy.” They frowned a little “That's gonna take a while though.” 

“Don’t worry!” You heard Doug said. “I think we have something that could help with that!” the old man got up to look for something.

He checked the cabinets, the closets, the drawers… does he know what he’s looking for?

“Hmm, I could’ve sworn I had put it in here...” he said as he rubbed his chin. You noticed that Priyanka had a disappointed look on her face.

“Doug” she started.

“What?”

“It’s right here.” She said as she was holding something in her hand. It looked like some kind of rod.

“Where did you find it?”

“You gave it to me.”

“Oh. Right. Yes, I did.” He replied embarrassed as he took the rod from her.

You wondered what that thing was. it looked familiar to you but It didn’t look like any other earthly tool you have come across.

“Do you guys know what this is?” Doug asked both of you but was pretty much directed more at Vonvon.

“Umm, a pen? A remote?” the child guessed.

“Close! Do you remember Peridot?”

“Yeah?”

…

“Well, this gizmo was given to us by Peridot a long time ago. It's basically a temperature converter, it can cool things down or heat things up on the spot,” he explained.

“Wooow! It looks really cool!” Vonvon replied, looking mesmerized by the tool.

“He’yup! Very cool! And it’ll be even cooler if you turn it to ‘cooler mode’!” He said as he pressed a button on its side. The object turned blue after that.

“Sooo, how does it work?” They asked.

“Ah. Well. I think you stick it here,” he said as he put the rod on top of the batter.

It didn’t seem to do anything…

“Huh. Maybe you stick it inside the batter?” He questioned aloud, rubbing his chin once more.

“What if you pressed this button.” Vonvon pointed out. Doug then did as the child said.

Suddenly, the object glowed a brighter blue and started to levitate over the batter. Everyone, except you, looked at the glowing rod with wonder and awe.

It scanned the batter underneath it before shooting out a cold, misty substance at it. Once it was done, it stopped glowing and floated back into Doug’s hand.

“Did it work?” Doug asked, readjusting his glasses.

“Yeah, a little too well...” Vonvon said as they tapped on a very frozen chocolate batter.

“Oh uh, don’t worry! This thing isn’t just a cooler, but a heater!” 

Doug pressed a different side button on the object. This time the rod turned red.

“Are you sure it's not gonna… melt it all the way?” Vonvon questioned.

“I’m… not sure… I don’t really know how this works to be honest with you.”

“What are those numbers on it?” they pointed out once again.

“Numbers?” Doug questioned as he turned the rod over to see the numbers Vonvon was talking about.

There were numbers on the rod. Must be to indicate the temperature.

“Ah, I see. Here Steven, you can use it. Make it work. You probably know how to handle it better than I do.” the man smiled with a hint of embarrassment as he handed you the alien object. The red tool was now in your possession.

You noticed the numbers were set to flaming temperatures, so you made sure to change it so that it may heat the batter up just enough in order to progress the making of this dessert.

Once that was completed, you placed the rod on top of the solid batter and pressed the button. You watched as the rod glowed a brighter red and floated off of your hand to the top of the frozen mix.

Just like before, it scanned the ice-cold batter, but this time the rod seemed to shoot out hot air. Mist can be seen coming out of the frozen batter.

Thankfully it didn't make the entire thing liquid again, nor did it set the room ablaze, instead it was a perfectly stable, kneadable batter.

Once again, the rod finished its job, stopped glowing, and returned to you.

Once the mist cleared, Vonvon went to poke the batter.

“Woah… it feels... edible.” 

“And rollable!” Doug added.

“Roll-able?”

“Yup, your next step is to roll it now! You’re not gonna eat the whole batter, haha!” he laughed, then he said just above a whisper, “Your grandmother wouldn’t be too happy.”

They giggled in response. “I can’t eat all of this gran’pa! I have a small appetite!”

Their grandpa ruffled their hair. “I know buddy.”

The sight of them interacting made you feel… nice. You wanted to have that effect on Vonvon more often.

“Papa papa! Can you get the roller?” They asked you, looking at you now.

They wanted a roller in order to flatten the batter, but you told them that wasn’t necessary.

“Why not?” They tilted their head, confused.

You are a gem. And you have “cool” gem powers. You demonstrated that by summoning a small hexagon made of hard light. The child looked at it with awe but was still unsure of what you were doing. Doug was just seemingly waiting for you to do something.

You made your small shield hover over the batter and let it press down on it gently, slowly deflating it and spreading it.

“Well that one way to do it. Much quicker than the traditional way” Doug said, a hint of surprise in his voice.

“We can cut the batter now!” Vonvon said as they went to reach for the cookie cutters, but then suddenly stopped themselves.

“Oh, um... Papa, you’re gonna have to look away for now. This part will spoil the surprise if you see it.”

‘Spoil the surprise?’ They must really want to stick with the secrecy of this recipe.

They were making a shoo-ing gesture with their hands now, so you went away for a bit, as you didn’t wanna disappoint the child by seeing whatever they were making.

You walked over to stand at the table where the other 2 elders were. Priyanka stood up, saying she’s going to help out the other two cutting the batter.

So, it was just you and Greg at the table for the time being.

  
  


“So… how’s the baking so far?” he asked.

Pretty good. _It's been a while since you've baked something, or even touch anything baking related._

"Good, good. I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself.” the old man sounded relieved as if he was holding his breath before.

“Y’know, little munchkin over there really wanted you to do this with you.”

Vonvon?

“Yup. they said to us yesterday that they wanted to bake with you on their ‘bake-day’!”

Greg’s tone was noticeably quiet.

“They wanted to make something really special for you. It reminds me of when you… well… you remember together breakfast right?”

You did. You remembered it from the waffles to the toppings. 

“Hehe, good times.”’

The air was very stiff between you two. You could practically feel Greg was struggling to get his words out. You didn’t mind it very much though, as you were occupied wondering what the three others were doing so far.

“Hey.” Greg started up again.

You turned to look at him again.

“You can stop me if you don’t want me to talk about it but, I noticed you were really tense around us when we were walking around the boardwalk, is everything okay?” 

… _Your feelings are inadequate about that._

“Look, I understand if… our presence can be… stressful to you sometimes, but I just want you to know that we don’t hold anything against you.” He reassured, putting a hand on your shoulder.

“I notice that we can sometimes seem… weird around you and I’m sorry for that. I don’t mean to do that. And I think they don’t mean it either.” He gestured to Doug and Priyanka.

"My point is, whenever you need help with anything, just tell us! Me, Doug, and Priyanka will help you the best we can!” He reassured you. “Don’t be a stranger, buddy!”

…You thank him. It was nice of him to reassure you like that.

 _But you won’t blame them if they actually did mind the fact that you could remind them of such… distressing memories._ You did look like him after all. And he’s not here.

Before you could be shrouded by butterflies, you hear a small voice speak out.

“Guys! Dessert is ready!” 

“Finally!” the man in the wheelchair heaved. Greg was about to start pushing himself to the other side until you insisted you wheel him over instead.

As you pushed the crippled man, you notice the other three had smiles on their faces, as if they wanted to show you something.

“Papa papa! We wanna show you what we made!” 

Your assumptions were correct.

Once you have reached the occupied side of the room, you let go of the handles of the wheelchair.

You were now curious about what exactly this secret dessert was.

They…

It was…

Its-

“We made you some Cookie Cats Papa!” The child exclaimed.

“Grandad told me when you were younger, you’d eat these all the time. You’d bake them yourself because the actual company that made them was discontinued. I thought that maybe for this bake-day, we’d make some Cookie Cats for you!”

It was hard for you to concentrate at the moment as the flapping of wings in your mind became louder.

_Did they make them...for me?_

_I shouldn’t have this._

_That’s so nice of them!_

_You had a feeling it’d be this but-_

_You never thought you'd-  
_

_Why why why WHY?!_

_I don’t understand!_

_I shouldn’t- I can’t!-_

_I don’t deserve this- I want this but I can’t- it's not right- **This couldn’t have been made for me!** \- _

“Papa? Do you… like them?”

…

You gave Vonvon a big, gentle hug. You couldn’t find words to describe your feelings. Action was the best response you could manage. And they hugged back tightly. You could practically feel their smile against the leather coat you have on.

When the two of you parted from each other's arms, Priyanka handed the ice cream out to everyone, including you.

The sight of the cookie in your hand made you… experience some emotions you couldn’t put a name on. You stared at it for a while. 

“Man, I feel like I’m back 15 years!” Greg chuckled.

“Wow, the texture of the cookie is really nice!” Acclaimed Doug. 

“Alright guys, we don’t have all day to admire this treat,” Priyanka teased. “Let’s see if the recipe still works with a little less sugar.”

“Also! Remember to eat it from the ear first!” Vonvon exclaimed.

And with that, everyone (but you) took a bite out of the cold treat, all of them had eaten from the ear first. And all of them hummed in approval. You could tell they were savoring its flavor.

“This tastes really good!” Said Greg. Doug nodded in agreement with him.

“And it's got less sugar. 2 cups of it is way too much, I can’t believe you’d have that almost every week before!“

All the elders giggled at that. You couldn’t see their faces, however. You were still staring at your uneaten cookie. You felt as though the longer you looked at it, the more you could hear the past screaming at you. You wanted to listen to it, at the same time, you were terrified. You were frozen on the spot.

You wanted to taste it as the others did, but you also didn’t want it to disappear.

“Papa?” 

Oh. Vonvon noticed you didn’t eat the cookie. _How long were they looking at you?_

“Do you want to eat it?”

… Yes. ~~_No_ ~~

You do. ~~_Not now_ ~~

You were just… admiring it. ~~_You were sure it tasted wonderful_ ~~

“You can eat it later if you want.” 

“Yeah! No pressure buddy! I know you haven’t seen a Cookie Cat in so long. I understand if you just wanna look at it for now.” Greg reassured you.

“Yes. We can wrap it up for you and put it away so you can eat tomorrow if you’d like.” Priyanka offered.

“We could also freeze it,” Doug suggested, holding out the temperature converter. 

You looked at them all, with wide pupils.

They all offered to help preserve the ice cream cookie. You couldn’t find the words to express how grateful you are.

However, your expression stayed blank for a while.

* * *

10:40 pm

That was the current time.

You were the only source of light in the room at the moment. Vonvon was sleeping soundly above you in their bed, and you…

Well, you have been sitting in the same spot for hours, staring at the cold treat in front of you. You still haven’t eaten the cookie and you don’t think you will anytime soon. And you were okay with that for now.

The Cookie reminded you of so many things, good and bad. But today, it was mostly good memories. The ice cream filling was melting and its vanilla side was starting to sag.

You decided it was time to finally put it away.

You tapped the melting ice cream treat and a bubble appeared around it. You gave it one last look at it before sending it off back ‘home’. Somewhere you wouldn’t see it for a long time.

But that was okay, you can always make more sometime later.

You smiled at that thought. _You smiled quite a bit today._

You then suddenly noticed a bundle of papers beside you. Curious, you picked it up. There were words printed on it.

After skimming through the page you smiled again as you recognized this was the song the whole family sang to you at the end of the day;

“Cookie Cat”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this pretty long one! Forgive me if it sounded weird in some parts, I just really wanted to finally finish it (Also beginner writer go brr).
> 
> And if you haven't seen my Tumblr post about it, unfortunately, my updates will still be slow. But it's steadily going! I'm really thankful for those that have said such nice things about it so far! I'm quite blown away really that I'm doing okay so far! I hope to do that in the upcoming chapters.
> 
> [for bonus context if you haven't seen it yet, I encourage you to read this! https://restore-the-universe.tumblr.com/post/637960017452105728/a-cool-gift-from-peridot  
> a small little something for that Peridot gizzmo]
> 
> Also yeah, Pink Steven knows the exact number of coats, shoes, books and toys in the household because sometimes he's just THAT bored.

**Author's Note:**

> (AU can be found here: https://restore-the-universe.tumblr.com/)


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